by Elaine Durbach
NJJN Bureau Chief/Central

May 22, 2008

Tehila Nachalon speaks with such optimism about the projects in Israel funded by the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, even longtime activists say they find themselves more excited about what can be achieved.

“My friends laugh at me because I’m so optimistic,” she acknowledged in an interview squeezed into the hectic schedule of a three-day visit to Central NJ last week. “But I am very privileged; I meet the beautiful Israel. I see the part where people are working together to make things better. It’s less important what the majority do; what counts is what the best do.”

That doesn’t mean she only sees rosy scenes of success. Hired as the federation’s representative in Israel about 17 months ago, the 32-year-old Nachalon is confronted every day with the dire problems facing various hard-pressed communities, mostly in the Negev.

Armed with funding from individual benefactors, from federation campaign allocations, and from the federation’s Mack Ness Fund, she investigates where the money is most needed and can be used most effectively.

These days, making those decisions is tougher than ever, she acknowledged. With the dollar falling, the value in shekels of crucial American donations has plunged by around 25 percent. Even programs thought to be fully funded now face budget shortfalls. “Somehow, we must carry on,” she said.

Without minimizing the problems, she describes community achievements with her eyes alight. One example is the security equipment funded by the Central federation that allowed a previously unusable sports hall in Sderot to become a center of activity for children and adults. “That was a no-brainer,” she said. Another was a daycare program for elderly residents on a kibbutz — not a major undertaking but valued all the same.

But Nachalon’s upbeat outlook is based not so much on dollar figures as it is on the response she has seen to the country’s problems — primarily from young Israelis working in partnership with the federation and its global partners, including the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

“It used to be the JAFI or the JDC that handled everything. Now there is a more hands-on attitude. People are very open to what philanthropy can do.” They are discovering, she added, “that when you give to others, it makes you feel more rooted.”

Federation’s executive vice president Stanley Stone sees her as very much a part of that cohort.

“She represents the next generation of Israelis — people who’re accomplished in their professions and at the same time are committed to the growth and development of the country, and feel that commitment in everything they do,” he said.

In addition to her liaison work with the federation’s existing partners, he says Nachalon, as a native Israeli, has helped link it to other groups. She is working closely with the Israel Venture Network, the Mirage Foundation, and other organizations providing mentoring and funding grassroots initiatives.

At Sharansky’s side

Trained as a lawyer, Nachalon spent a year in the United States while her husband continued his own post-graduate law studies at Harvard University. She said she would have liked to have stayed perhaps one more year, but that they would never consider staying on long-term — as so many of their countrymen have done. “We are very deeply rooted in Israel,” she said.

That bond may have been strengthened all the more by a previous chapter in her curriculum vitae — working with former Cabinet member Natan Sharansky as his adviser on anti-Semitism.

The connection with the Central federation, she said, provided her ideal job opportunity — linking the United States and Israel, working with the Diaspora community to nurture local initiatives. It has given her a chance to match benefactors with local people dealing with employment and security problems, social welfare programs, and cultural initiatives.

The Central federation’s efforts have been particularly effective, she said, because they have been targeted on measurable goals, rather than a vague “spray and pray” approach.

She cited two employment programs in Arad, one aimed at keeping highly skilled workers and college graduates in the region, and the other providing training and placement support for lower-income workers. Both have results that are being carefully monitored.

Eleanor Rubin, who cochairs the Ness Fund with Norman Weinstein, met Nachalon for the first time on a visit to Israel last summer, and then again on a visit in January. They’ve also spoken often by phone.

“I’m very pleased for us that she’s the person we’re working with,” Rubin said. Monitoring projects and coaxing them along, “she has really put our federation on the map. She doesn’t take credit for it, but we’ve heard unsolicited testimonies about her and people have been wanting to join with us in what we’re doing. In a wonderful way, various municipalities and mayors have been working together — and that’s no small thing.”

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